1961-62 Tennis Club

  Scene from Union Day Tennis Finals

 Tennis Jottings

Senior Captains                                               Junior Captains

TONY MOORE                                                  RALPH INCE

FRANK MAGUIRE                                              TONY STEEN

THIS year we had great hopes for our two tennis teams. We had three of the top players from both of last year's Cup-winning teams. But success did not come our way this year.

In the Senior team we had Tony Moore, Frank Maguire and Eddie Quinlan retaining the first three positions. Vincent Steen early on staked his claim to the fourth singles. The last two places were filled by Joe Casey and Willie O'Donnell. This left us with a strong, 'well-balanced team. Tony Moore partnered Frank Maguire in the first doubles to form a strong partnership, while Eddie Quinlan paired with 'Willie 0' Donnell, and Joe Casey and Vincent Steen, who had played a good deal together, made the remaining doubles.

In the second round of the Cup, to which we had a bye, we met C.B.C. Monkstown, whom we defeated 4-0 at Elm Park. On the following Saturday, in so far as the weather permitted, we got some useful practice from a group of the Past who kindly came out. Our next match was the semi-final against Blackrock, who had a strong team. For this match we were without Tony Moore in the singles, due to an ankle injury. He played, however, in the first doubles. Frank Maguire, moved up to number 1, did extremely well to beat G. Waldron by 7-5, 6-2. We halved the singles, Vincent Steen being our other winner. We won the second doubles, but lost the third. In the decisive first doubles, we won the first set and fought hard for the second, but were finally beaten in the third, and so lost the match 4-3.

In the Junior Cup the three singles positions went automatically to Ralph Ince, Terry Grant and Tony Steen. David Lyons and John Dunlea soon filled two of the remaining positions, while the last one was filled in turn by Michael Morgan, Ernan Britton and Ronald Cudmore, the last-named being on for the majority of the matches. In our first match, against St. Fintan's, which we played away, we were surprisingly beaten 4-2, our only victories being in the third singles and second doubles. Their number 1 and 2 proved strong in both singles and doubles. We then went on to beat C.U.S. and Belvedere by 4-0 in both cases. In our last match, against Blackrock, Tony Steen beat C. McDonagh, a fancied player, by 6-0 in the final set, which was a very good win indeed. We also won the second singles, and Ince and Grant had a very good victory in the first doubles against a strong Rock pair. In the second doubles we were beaten 6-4 in the final set, and so only managed to draw, which was not good enough, against the eventual winners of the Competition.

In the Murphy Cup there was a surprise result in the first round where the number 4 seed, Vin Steen, was beaten by the steady Des Grant, who was in turn beaten in the semi-final. Tony Moore had a hard struggle on the way to the final against Terry Grant.

There was some very good tennis in the final on Union Day. Moore and Maguire were a very evenly-matched pair. They were somewhat of a contrast in style-the hard-hit drives of Moore opposed to the cleverly placed shots of Maguire. Maguire, the holder, lost the first set 4-6, but steadied his game in the second to take it 7-5. After being behind in the third set, he varied his game cleverly and found a very good touch and took the set 7-5. Thus he won it for the second year in succession. In the Junior Competition, Ince and Grant had a straight run to the final. Here Grant showed superior court-craft in a hard-fought match. He reversed his defeat of last year by winning 7-5, 6-2. In the doubles competition, which was well supported, E. Quinlan and R. Ward met J. Casey and P. Smithwick in the final. The first named in both cases had met in the final last year.